Overview
Module learning outcomes being assessed in this assignment: | LO1 - Understand the issues facing organisations in a contemporary environment and the challenges marketing managers and leaders face as a result of those issues LO2 - Assess the attributes, characteristics and styles of a successful marketing manager and leader. LO3 - Critically review the management and leadership techniques used to control, develop and motivate marketing team members LO4 - Evaluate theoretical and applied approaches to marketing leadership including human centric marketing, purpose led marketing, change management and cross-cultural leadership LO5 – Recognise and evaluate the cross-functional responsibilities of a marketing leader and their contribution to achieving the objectives of marketing, brand, business and corporate plans LO6 - Critically review the role of corporate culture and organisational behaviour in defining approaches to marketing management and leadership |
Assessment Task What are you required to do in this assignment? |
As a business consultant, you have been asked by the organisation to submit a report to the Executive Team that recommends a change to their management and leadership approach in response to changes within their external business environment. The focus of the report is on the wider management and leadership function (not marketing), and you are encouraged to look broadly at all areas of the organisation that would benefit from a revised approach. You should include a brief (1-page) summary of the organisation covering: type of organisation, size of organisation, product / service overview, customer base and competition. You will be required to complete a report that addresses the following elements: 1. Situation Analysis (Approx. 750 words, 20 marks)1.1 Drawing upon your Strategic Audit (Task 5 in the appendices), you should identify 5 key issues in total that are of concern or opportunity for the organisation. You should aim to bring together issues from the external environment and assess the impact of these upon the internal environment. This should be summary of what you consider to be the top 5 major business issues facing the organisation and assess the implications of those issues from a management / leadership perspective. 1.2 Issue Identification - select ONE internal issue from the 5 you have identified on which you will base the rest of the report, providing a justification for the choice of that issue. Notes: You are looking for issues from the external business environment that have an impact upon the internal environment of the organisation (cause and effect). To this end, your primary tool is probably a PESTE analysis and you need to look at the relationship between what is happening outside the organisation and the internal impacts of this. You can use a range of frameworks to contextualise your internal impacts. This task should be a SUMMARY of the strategic audit and not a duplication. The audit should be a wide-ranging review with the situation analysis a narrowed down review of the key or critical issues (think funnel – many to five to one). The situation analysis is critical review of why these five issues are the most important / relevant for the organisation to focus on. The issues identified need to be fully justified in terms of their importance / criticality to the organisation either now or in the immediate future. 2. Literature Review (Approx. 1250 words, 20 marks) Critically review the management / leadership theory around which the report is based. You should critique different conceptual approaches to management and leadership in the context of your chosen organisation. This review should underpin and inform your strategic recommendation in Task 3. 3. Strategic Recommendation (Approx. 500 words, 20 marks) Recommend, with justification, ONE approach that the organisation should adopt in order to address the management / leadership challenges highlight as part of the internal analysis. 4. Implementation Challenges (Approx. 1000 words, 20 marks) Critically evaluate the challenges the organisation might face in implementing your strategic recommendation from Task 3. You will need to suggest ways in which the organisation might address those challenges and outline the major management / leadership changes that you think the organisation should make in order to gain support from both internal and external stakeholders. A Gantt chart may help with visualising the implementation of your plan. 5. Strategic Audit (Appendix, no word count, 10 marks) The strategic audit should be included in the appendices and offer the background research that underpins the Situation Analysis in Task 1. You should use a minimum of 3 audit tools / frameworks to produce a comprehensive analysis that covers both the external and internal business environments. One of these tools is likely to be a PESTE that covers the external business environment, from which you can use a range of tools to assess the impact of this upon the internal environment. The analysis must be well researched and fully referenced. Inclusion and analysis of statistical data will add weight / credibility to your assessment and the use of imagery, stats and facts in the supporting infographics is encouraged. This audit informs your Situation Analysis (Task 1) and allows you explore the business environment in more depth. For this audit, you should consider using a range of general business (not marketing) frameworks. These could include, but are not limited to: PESTEL, Cultural Web, 7S’s, SWOT, Internal Competency Analysis, Risk Management, Requirement Analysis, Value Chain, Business Analysis Service Framework (BASF), Strategic Management Framework (to name a few). (Hint – Porter’s 5 Forces, Ansoff and Boston won’t work for this assessment). This is NOT a marketing audit, and your focus will need to be focused on more general business / strategy / management issues. Additional Notes: You should submit your work in report format (front cover, executive summary, contents) and use the sections as outlined above. Although this is a practitioner-based assessment, the use of key concepts and theories (knowledge) to support your response is a key part of building your argument (evaluation), particularly for Task 2. Relevant theory should be used (application) and it is expected that your report will be well researched and referenced. The report should be written in the third person. |
Use of Generative AI |
The use of Generative AI is allowed to support your background research for this assessment. You may use the AI tools to guide some of your thinking and in limited instances, some of your narrative for the assessment. We do not recommend direct copy and paste (unless quoted and referenced appropriately – see consideration 2 below). There are three conditions for this as follows: 1. On a separate page at the start of the assessment (between the front cover and actual start of the assessment) you explicitly acknowledge you have used a Generative AI tool as part of this assessment and state which one e.g. "I have used ChatGPT as part of my research for this assessment". You do not need to state this if you have not used it.2. If quoting from an AI tool in your paper, you reference / quote the material as you would normally (don’t hide it, acknowledge it). 3. You include a list of the prompts you used in your research. The focus of the assessment remains on the requirements of the brief so use AI tools wisely. Copy and paste is not acceptable, nor is using Generative AI to create your entire piece of work. Instances where this is suspected or discovered will be handled via the normal academic misconduct process. You also need to note that it is your choice as to whether you use the AI tools, and with that, consent to sharing your personal data / details with the companies behind the tech (something you might want to check on). The use of AI is not mandatory for the completion of the assessment and any student who chooses not to use it will not be prejudiced in any way. Important! Please refer to the General Examination and Assessment Regulations (GEAR) policy on your course area in My Studies for full details on the use of AI in assessments. |
Referencing Style |
Harvard Referencing – see referencing guide here: www.citethemrightonline.com |
Formatting Requirements |
• Report format • Body text: Arial, or Calibri • Font Size: 11 or 12 point • Main headings font size 14, bold, colour • Sub-headings font size 12, bold, black • Line spacing: single line spacing, with additional line between tasks / sub sections • Page setup: Normal • Diagrams and Tables: Font size 9 • Executive summary and contents page are required • References, models and tables are not included in the word count (although this doesn’t mean you can dump everything in a table – a professional narrative is expected) • One single reference list at the end of the assessment |